Cabinet hinge



Dec. 11, 1951 R. A. STONE 2,578,610

CABINET HINGE Filed Feb. 1, 1946 2 SHEETS.-SHEET 1 1N VEN TOR.

'III'IIIIIIIIII 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 R. A. STONE CABINET HINGE III Dec. 11,l951- Filed Feb. 1, 1946 BEND FORWHRD HERE BEND BECK HERE INVENTOR.5372a,

Patented Dec. 11, 1951 CABINET HINGE.

Roy A. Stone, Rockford, Ill., assignor to National Lock Company,Rockford, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application February 1, 1946,Serial No. 644,713

6 Claims. 1

This invention relates generally to hinges, and more particularly tohinges suitable for the mounting of hollow metal doors on sheet metalcabinets or the like.

One of the purposes of my present invention is to provide a hinge whichwill serve, in addition to its hinging function, to reinforce andstrengthen the sheet metal door which it supports. With this object inview, the door wing of the hinge is designed to be located within thehollow door where it is concealed from view and serves both as a doorsupport and a door reinforcement.

Another object of my invention is to provide a hinge by which a door maybe supported so that no portion of the hinge or the hinged edge of thedoor will project beyond the plane of the side of the cabinet during anyof the opening or closing movements thereof. A cabinet may accordinglybe placed in a corner of a room or with its side against a wall, or twocabinets may be abutted together, without interfering with the openingof the doors.

A further advantageous feature is that th hinge also serves as a stop tolimit the openand attached to the door of a cabinet by permanent spotwelding.

Other objects and advantages of my invention should be readilyappreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to thefollowing description when considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a fragmental perspective view, with certain parts broken away,of a hinge embodying my invention mountedin a cabinet;

Fig. 2 is a fragmental perspective view of the structure shown in Fig.1, but viewed from the interior of the cabinet;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the hinge viewed on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an elevation of a hinge viewed from the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a similar view on the line 66 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 5 illustrating two cabinets disposed inabutting relation without interfering with the opening of the doors;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the sheet metal blank from which the doorwing of the hinge is formed;

Fig. 9 is an edge view of the blank after being bent as indicated inFig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a face view of the partially formed blank of Fig. 9indicating the next step in the formation of the wing;

Fig. 11 is a face view of the partially formed wing indicating the finalbending step in the production of the wing; and

Fig. 12 is a front elevation of the completed door wing.

Referring more specifically to the structural details included in thepreferred embodiment of the invention disclosed on the drawings, one endwall of a container or cabinet, such as a kitchen cabinet, locker or thelike, is designated on the drawings by reference character iii. Thewall, as will be obvious, is of sheet metal formation with its marginbent to form a channel-shaped stile l4 presenting a door frame wall I5upon which the door I6 of sheet metal hollow construction is adapted tobe mounted.

While two or more hinges are customarily employed for the mounting ofeach door, I have herein shown, for illustrative purposes merely, one ofsuch hinges constructed in accordance with my invention. The hinge,generally speaking, is of three-piece construction, comprising a cabinetwing I l, a door wing 18, and a pintle I9 by which said wings arepivotally connected together.

The cabinet wing, which is formed of sheet metal, consists of a baseportion 2| adapted to be mounted on the stile M by means of a pluralityof screws or bolts 22, an outwardly extending arm 23 projecting at anincline from the portion 2|, as will be apparent from Fig. 5, and anextension 24 of said arm bent to project therefrom in a planesubstantially perpendicular to the plane of the base portion 2|. Thefree margin of the extension 24 is rolled back to form a journal 25 forthe pintle I9. The wall 15 of the cabinet is provided with an opening3!] for each cabinet wing.

The door wing is also formed from a single sheet of metal, thefabrication of which into the completed wing will be readily apparentfrom a consideration of Figs. 8 to 12, inclusive. As shown in Fig. 8, ametal sheet is cut or stamped to form a blank shaped as shown having anelongated cen- Qtral notch 26 along one edge disposed between stantiallyparallel with the wall 3 i, thus providing a channel-shaped memberconsisting of the base or bottom wall 33, the marginal wall 3| carryingthe journals 2'! and 28, and the main body wall extending parallel withthe wall 3 l. The central portions of this body wall are now bent atright angles to the plane of the body on the lines34 and 35 (Fig. 11) toprovide the flanges 36 and 31 projecting outwardly from the attachingportions 38 and 39 remaining in the plane of the original blank. It willbe apparent, particularly from Figs. 1 and 4, that the flanges 36 and 3:are respectively notched, as indicated at ii and 42, to underlie andaccommodate the journals 21 and 28, respectively, and that they extendoutwardly substantially the depth of the door, that is, from the innerwall 43 to the outer wall fil -l thereof, so as to strengthenandreinforce the door and prevent inward bending or collapsing of theouter wall under stress. The reinforcing flangesare spaced apartsufficiently to accommodate between them the projecting 'arm of thecabinet wing.

Similarly, the journals. 27' and 28 on the 'door' The opening is formedby 1 cutting the door wall and bending inwardly the wall material aroundthree sides of whic the cuts have been made to thereby'form the inwardlypro jecting flange it which, as will be apparent from Fig. 1, extendsbetween the reinforcing flanges 36 and 3? and also extends to the outerwall M of the door to further strengthen and rigidify'ihe struc-.

ture. The transversely extending. flanges 36, 3! and surround thehingeopening 65 so as to preclude the insulation or silencing material'customarily placed within the door'from working out through said hingeopening.

When the hinge has been positioned within the E door, as illustrated,with the arm 23 projecting through the opening the door wing is spotwelded to the door, particularly along the base wall 33, therebysecurely mounting the hinge and For the purpose of providing addition-.

It will be apparent that the axis about which the door will pivot in itsopening and closing movements is spaced a substantial distance outwardlyfrom the face of the cabinet. In fact, the pivot pin or pintle islocated adjacent to the plane of the outer face of the door. The hingededge of the door will during the opening and closing movements of thedoor swing in an arc which never intersects the plane of the side wallof the cabinet. The cabinet may, therefore, be located in a corner of aroom close against the wall without interfering with the movements ofthe door, or two cabinets may be mounted in juxtaposition, asillustrated in Fig. 7, without the adjacent doors interfering with eachother during their opening and closing movements.

From Fig. '7 wherein the door of the left-hand cabinet is shown as fullyopen, it will be manifest that the cabinet wing of the hinge presents asurface in the path of the reinforced wall at the inner side of thehinge opening, which serves as a stop or abutment to limit the extent ofthe opening movement of the door. The abutting surfaces forming the stopare concealed so that the chipping or marring of an exposed surface or"the door by contact with a stop is obviated.

From the foregoing .it will bemanifest that I have provided a cabinethinge which can be economically. manufactured and easily installed, andwhich, inaddition to its hinge function as a pivotal door support, alsoserves to strengthen and reinforce the door structure. The hinge ismounted within the door, instead of on the outside, and is therefore notvisible, and its pivot pin is. so located that a wall or another cabinetabutting the side wall of the cabinet on which the door is mounted in nowise interferes with the opening and closingof the door.

The structural details illustrated and described may be varied withinconsiderable limits without exceeding the scope of the invention asdefined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A cabinet hinge, consisting of a cabinet wing and a door wingpivotally connected together, said cabinet wing being adapted to beanchored at one end on a cabinet frame or the like and to projectoutwardly therefrom into a hollow metal door, and said cabinet wingbeing provided at its extremity with a hinge pintle journal, said doorwing having connected channel-shaped upper and lower portions, the freeedges. of one side wall of the channel of each portion being providedwith hinge pintle journals, the other side wall of the channel of eachportion having a strengthening and door reinforcing fiange projectingfrom the plane of such other side wall toward said one side wall of suchportion, the pintle journals of said wings being disposed inlongitudinal alignment, and a hinge pin extending through said journals.

2.' A cabinet hinge, consisting of pivotally con nected cabinet and doorwings, the cabinet wing being adapted to be mounted at one end on acabinet and being provided at its other end with a hinge pintle journal,the door wing being of channel-shaped formation, including a short sidewall portion and a pair of long side Wall portions, the'free edge of theshort side wall portion having a pair of spaced apart hinge pinjournals, and each of the long wall portions having an integral flangeextending at approximately a right angle to the plane of such wall, anda hinge pin extending through all of said journals whereby said wingsare connected together. r

3. A cabinet hinge, comprising a pair of sheet metal wings pivotallyconnected together, one of said wings being adapted to be mounted at oneend on a cabinet and provided at its other end with a hinge pin journal,the other wing being of channel-shape at one end, each of the channelside walls being divided into two parts connected together at the bottomwall of the channel, the free extremity of each of the said parts of oneof said side walls of the channel being provided with a hinge pinjournal and each of the other side wall parts of the channel beingprovided with an integral reinforcing flange disposed at right angles tothe plane of its adjacent connected wall part, and a hinge pin extendingthrough said journals whereby said wings are pivotally connected.

4. A cabinet hinge, comprising a pair of wings formed of sheet metal,one wing being adapted to be mounted within a hollow metal door andbeing of channel-shape, one side wall of the channel having a pair ofspaced apart pintle journals with aligned axes, a portion of the metalof the other side wall of the channel extending at right angles to theplane of such side wall and toward the plane of the first side wallthereby to provide a strengthening and reinforcing flange, the otherwing consisting of a base portion adapted to be mounted upon the stileof a metal cabinet or the like, an arm projecting from said base portionand an extension of said arm extending at approximately a right angle tothe base portion and provided at its extremity with a pintle journaldisposed between the pintle journals of said first mentioned wing, and ahinge pin connecting said wings.

5. A cabinet hinge, comprising a pair of pivotally connected sheet metalwings, one of said wings being adapted to be mounted within a hollowmetal door, said wing being composed of one piece of sheet metal ofchannel shape, one side wall of the channel being provided with a pairof spaced apart hinge pin journals and the other side wall beingprovided with spaced strengthening and reinforcing flanges extending atright angles to the plane of the wall in the direction of the first saidside wall, the other wing comprising a base portion adapted to bemounted upon the stile of a cabinet or the like, an arm extendingtherefrom, an extension of said arm being disposed approximatelyperpendicularly to said base portion and provided at its extremity witha hinge pin journal, a projection of the plane of the base portionintercepting said extension between the last said journal and thejuncture of the arm and its extension, and a hinge pin extending throughsaid journals whereby said 'wings are pivotally connected.

6. A cabinet hinge, consisting of a pair of sheet metal wings providedwith hinge pin journals and a hinge pin extending through said journalswhereby said wings are pivotally connected, one of said wings being ofchannel-shape, one side wall of said channel having an openingintermediate of the channel ends for passage of a part of the other wingtherethrough, said one side wall having strengthening and reinforcingflanges extending from opposite margins defining said opening and towardthe opposite side wall of the channel, the other wing comprising aportion adapted to be mounted upon the stile of a cabinet or the like,and an offset arm extending outwardly therefrom through said opening inthe said one wing side 'wall and journaled on said hinge pin connectingsaid wings.

' ROY A. STONE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,073,316 Baldwin Sept. 16, 19131,208,037 Soss Dec. 12, 1916 1,245,376 Otte Nov. 6, 1917 1,340,151 BumpMay 18, 1920

